Five bidders line up for Safety-Kleen

Private equity firms Blackstone, Cinven, Hellman & Friedman, Montagu and Warburg Pincus are all reported to have submitted offers in the first round of bidding for Safety-Kleen. The deal could value the business at over £550m (US$1.09bn).

Industrial and automotive service provider Safety-Kleen is being sold by fellow buyout house CCMP Capital, formerly known as JP Morgan Partners.

Should a private equity player win the deal, it would represent a third generation buyout of the company, which was owned by Electra before CCMP. CCMP bought it from Electra in 2004 for £273.5m.